Probably the same people that speculated it *should* be a premium priced machine as soon as the rumor hit 2 years ago... even though MET Pro has as many mechanical features.

I agree if Stern wanted to cash in now that is a great idea, however if they do this future LE sales could be jeopardized. The one thing Stern has not done is run more of a machine that is limited. Lucci pissed off some of the premium owners but premiums are never limited and I don't think any of the LE owners were upset by it. People buy the LE's and pay the high prices over the premiums because they know Stern is not going to make anymore and they want to have something limited. For all we know SMVE could end up selling for a ton in the future on the secondary market, but if Stern throws the Limited Edition tag on it and starts numbering them I think people will be skeptical about future LE purchases since they know Stern could always run more as a re-theme.

If you don't like the long wait just cancel your damn pre order!

Wait!? Sorry, is this a Stern thread? Oh, then, ummmm...let's see..oh yeah! The PF art sucks!!!

I was mostly saying that if they are indeed wanting to just do a small run to keep the lines running and then switch back over to all the other new pins they have coming out, (as some people are saying and based on the quote below from a distributor,) then making it an actual numbered limited run would make the most sense. They've already re-run or reissued many Stern pins through the years including Spiderman, but to me this new version would be more appropriate as a one-off remake limited edition than "Hey, let's just try this and see how many we can sell at a high price, and we'll rerun more later if need be."

I absolutely agree that you don't want to make something limited edition and then run more of them later, slight variation or whatever. That's one way JJP managed to piss off so many people.

I kinda want to see a Spiderman be switched over to a Deadpool. Still don't want to give up my JJJ Simmons though.

Humor, adult theme, cool character. Modern well done artwork. I'd love it.

Re: Deadpool - we just need the movie that's coming up to be a huge hit so Stern thinks it would be worthwhile.

Already seeing three original SM for sale right now and many many more to come. It will be interesting to see what they go for considering the market has come down some on these machines over the last couple of years.

+1 for Deadpool, but it would have to be super vulgar to be done right.

I will chime in and say that I have to agree that the pricing seems high. I was never interested in SMVE, so I was never a buyer no matter the price.

In my opinion, the thing this machine is lacking that all of the recent "Premium" machines have had are the RGB LEDs. I love a good light show, and to me, if that would have been incorporated into the machine/code, then the price would have been more on point.

Otherwise, where features are concerned, SM is probably up there with current Premium/LEs.

The real question is....will the higher price keep our local operators from purchasing them?

The only way i would buy this pin is if i was to put it on location. To many old Spidermans available for less money if i wanted one in the house.

So when acdc premium gets rerun with some new artwork will it will be $7500? See the trend?

It could possibly be a real VE if that has now been changed to "Very Expensive"...

You are correct, but I left a lot of that out of the math on purpose, because there are also additional costs.

Some of the costs I left out:

- Wages/Cost for collecting/dividing game income.
- Maintenance on the pin
- Licenses to operate the pin

Some of the "income" I left out:

- Depreciation and tax benefits
- Sale value of machine (which isn't even a factor until the machine is actually sold, you can't count profit that doesn't exist yet)

etc..

Lots of puts and takes to the math, which just further reinforces my idea about an operator success group.

Your buying from the wrong guy then

Over the last year I've heard of many people selling their games because they thought a new version that was the exact same game was coming out at a VE price. As an owner of the original I believe the SMVE speculation has already impacted the market. We might still see some that downward market correction going from old to new SM, but after that is done I think you'll see an upward correction in the original now that the SMVE has been released and the rumors are over.

Awesome game, SMVE artwork and movie theme on cabinets are so much different I think its two different buyers now. I like the shiny new pin vs old pin, but I prefer the look of the original artwork on cabinet and translite. Don't get me wrong, the new SMVE is awesome and I'm glad its out, just very different than original. I think SMVE release helps value on original not hurts, but as an original owner I may be bias

Well looking at the video, I like the playfield bright colours and glow around the figures. I do not like the thin spiderman characters, the leg on the side art seems strange, like it just broke?
The blackbox looks great, you have to be a fan of the comic theme. The plastics are not that great, probably a bit better than the originals but nothing more than that. The dots look really cheap IMO. The old dots are not that great but this is not that big of an improvement. I do not like the figures on the playfield, only Venom looks cool. Doc ock is to small and sandman to big. The green Goblin is on steroids. The targets are already printed, looks good. The side art is a bit busy and are decals as I can see from the photo's. Not really premium. The Dock Ock protection is better. The call outs do not match the movie version....they are way better in that version. So it's a though challenge.You want NIB, you have no choice. You can pick a HOU with low plays for 5K then that is in my option the better deal. Put leds in it and replace some plastics and you are good to go for coming years.

I'm not buying. But $6,400-$6500 is the price

I wouldn't buy at $6200 either so still not a tough pill when it comes to keeping my red SM

I keep hearing the scale of the figures being a detriment but Doc Ock and Venom look to be the same size. Sandman has the ability to be huge so him being larger makes sense. I think the figures look awesome when compared with Power Ranger villian Goblin and legless Doc Ock and Venom.

It sounds like the bitching is coming from you just because something is hand-drawn does not make it good. While most of the art is pretty good, the googley-eyed spidey, and the arrangement near the left flipper, are both bad IMHO. And apparently others' HOs as well. Sorry you cannot deal with it.

Would Stern ever lower the price if it didn't sell as well as they anticipated?

looks better than the original for sure; great pin; this new version is def on my want list.

I dont think so. That would just keep those who are on the fence for a game on the fence.

Game looks awesome in my opinion, but the price puts it out of the question for me. Really love the art though. You think these games are expensive now just wait till they start coming with LCD screens instead of DMDs. I have a feeling that the days of a $5k brand new game are long gone. Pinflation, the struggle is real.

What style bulbs are used for the GI? are they 44 or 555 sockets.

Only a possibility if Distro's are stuck with stock for an extended period of time. Stern afaik is priced direct to Distro's only and not ever retail sales themselves. Maybe bigger Distro's get bigger discounts.

Deflation doesn't apply to luxury purchases.

I'm still waiting for that older model Lear jet to get to 10 grand! Then it's mine, all mine!!

So serious pinside question.... Is SM VE going to get it's own rating or is it going to be lumped in with the current SM rating... or like the special edition black spiderman and out there in no-man's land???

first run is definitely going to sell out. I guess the question is will there be another run like Iron Man which probably influenced their pricing strategy. I'm not sure about that but we'll see. Does look great though.

It would probably also piss off the people that bought at the original price.

Serious answer. Art is part of the rating system, as is sound and dots. it should probably have a separate entry?! Falls in to the "ratings are a bit of a joke" category though IMO.

I have a thought, and I'm going to start a separate thread about it. You must all be quivering with antici...

... pation.

One should never ever leave a Tim Curry quote hanging. (And I thought you quit this thread three times now to go play pinball. )

I also assume that it will have a separate entry. I'll see if I can get confirmation on that.

Guesstimate on STERNS’ SMVE Upgrade Costs – Values taken from retail pricing (Pinball Life, Marco, etc.)

LEDs vs Incandescents: approx. 150 bulbs in the game x ($0.30/LED - $0.07/bulb) = $34.50
Service Rails $43 vs Service Posts $10? = $33
Shaker Motor $100 vs No shaker motor $0 = $100 (real cost is probably more around $40)
Laser Cut Side Rails $42 vs Standard Rails $30 = $12
Metal Apron $75 vs Plastic Apron $42 = $33
LED display $195 vs Plasma display $199 = $4 savings
New Protectors vs No protectors = $20

Totals $228.50 in upgrades at RETAIL pricing.

Anyone who has ever sold anything knows that there is typically a substantial markup over cost, so just imagine what the true cost of these “upgrades” really are. Also, with the recent transition to SPIKE it’s clear they can’t come out with a NEW design with old technology (SAM), what better way to get rid of old inventory (that would otherwise be worthless other than as replacement parts) by releasing a vault edition and avoid additional cost to procure those parts.

If STERN wants to charge this much for their games then so be it - just don’t treat me like I’m an idiot by trying to justify it by telling me it costs that much more. Let’s vote with our wallets and keep pricing where it should be.

Want some cheese with that wine, comrade? This is not a poor man's hobby.

I'll trade a very nice X-men pro w/ color dmd, shaker, captive ball mod, NOS OG wolvie, decent OG wolvie, modded wolvie bust (over captive ball) for a HUO SM.

you know, if anyone is looking.

-c

There has to be a cost for everything new in the game. Playfield, decals, plastic, molds. It doesn't appear they are making thousands of these, but rather a couple hundred.

Like what another poster said previously, this may be the true limited edition (barring that it is never re-run in the future).

you only need 50c, well $1 to be fair but if you are any good it will get you a couple of games.

The pinball hobby is not about ownership, it's about the love the game.

You forgot the other savings to Stern by removing the coil that moved the goblin = $10 savings?

Yeah, I left that out intentionally --- their cost on coils is probably more around $2-$4/coil. Figured it was noise.

One reason I think Stern missed the mark on this VE is this- loaded up Ironmans were selling for around $6k when they released the IM VE for around $4500 ("pro price"). Now you had nice SM's selling for $4500 a month ago and they release a VE that will cost you $2k more at around $6500? Doesn't make sense IMO.

This will sell in low #'s, too bad they didn't list it at around $5500 street, it could have been a huge hit.

I'm responding to a specific statement.

I was responding to your "it's not a poor man's hobby" comment.

Can you imagine the SMVE rethemed to Deadpool? Fricken hilarious!

Would they crank that one up to LE price point since it would be re-themed three times?

Marshawn Lynch should love this game. They dumped a bag of Skittles on it.....

If you are talking 'upgrades' over the original SM you can scratch service rails and metal aprons off the list.

At least the first couple runs of the original SM came with both of those.

They also had to do all new art, go through the licensing approval process again, record all new audio, draw all new dots --- but they'd have to do that with any new game they're making so maybe that's all a wash, but it makes this VE less of a cash cow than the Ironman VE which didn't have any of those costs.

Did he say that meaning that is a LOT of home users? I hope so, because 15 short years ago the ratio was probably 95-5%. They were even making gimped machines (before The Pin) in an unsuccessful attempt at home sales.

However, the cost of implementing a new design with production/development of parts for said design is saved. That savings is significant.

Yes please. Oh wait, have you seen the cost of cheese lately? Never mind, I'm out.